11 weeks today!

Baby is 11 weeks old today, and we are starting week number 12! I can't believe I'm already almost done with the first trimester! It really is amazing how fast that one goes considering you don't know you're pregnant for the entire time! My weekly update that I get in my email said that baby is almost fully developed and he/she is already kicking and moving! It's amazing how much babies do at just 1 1/2 inches long! It is such a miracle! My ultrasound went really well, and I'm going to try to put the picture of baby on here! We were able to hear it's heartbeat and everything, which was so cool! It was doing great, had a super fast heartbeat (very normal at this early stage) and they were able to tell that I was 9 weeks and 3 days along at the time, which meant my due date is Sept. 6th! Further along than we had first thought after my appointment, but at least this way I know!



I am definitely not showing right now, although my pants have gotten a little tight from time to time, and I actually wore maternity pants last night for the first time, knowing we were eating out and I might need the extra room instead of feeling very uncomfortable with tight pants! ;o) I'm SO excited to actually 'pop', because I hate going through this stage where I just feel fat, but I don't feel like it'll be too soon... :o( I can't really remember when I 'popped' with Daniel, but I just remember that I didn't have people asking if I was pregnant until like five months, so we'll see... I'm only two months along now. Oh, well!

Daniel is doing pretty good... getting over the flu and two ear infections that we found out he had last Friday. I'm definitely looking forward to spring now, especially to get away from this cold season... so many things are going around and it's so sad when Daniel isn't feeling like his normal self. :o( But, he has definitely seemed better today, and took a really good nap this morning! He has been having tons of fun exploring all around the house every day. We finally got the cabinet locks on the kitchen cabinets, so he is a little upset about not being able to open them all the way, but he did find the cabinets I kept unlocked the other day and played with all the tupperware and containers for quite awhile! :o)

Our Valentine's Day was a lot of fun! Scott's parents watched Daniel while Scott took me out for dinner at Carino's. We went to Olive Garden first at 5:30 and the wait was an hour and ten minutes, so we headed over to Carino's and were able to get right in. :o) We had a delicious dinner there (already excited for leftovers tonight), and then headed to Angelo's Pottery to paint pottery together - our yearly Valentine's tradition. :o) I picked out a water pitcher and Scott got a utensil holder / canister thing. We spent until 9 painting away, , talking, enjoying the music, and eating some yummy chocolate cake that they gave us. :o) It was a lot of fun and very relaxing! Scott sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips in the mail, too, which was exciting, so I've been watching them today as they open up - they are so beautiful! :o)

Well, that's all the time I have for now. I need to get better at updating this. Hopefully it won't take as long as normal before I write again!

Ultrasound TODAY! :o)

So I'm getting SO excited because I have my ultrasound appointment in just one hour and we finally get to actually know how far along I am! My midwife was thinking between 4 and 6 weeks last appointment, which was 3 weeks ago, so hopefully she was right and I am between 7 and 10 weeks now! :o) I'm just excited to actually have some kind of due date and be able to start getting weekly emails letting me know what's going on with my little baby! Also, I'm excited to see baby on the ultrasound, even though I know I won't be able to see too much this far along. When pregnant with Daniel I didn't even have an ultrasound until around 20 weeks, so it'll be much different, that's for sure! I'm hoping that we'll be able to hear the heartbeat, though, which they said we have a little change to hear. Anyway, I just had to share how excited I am! I'll definitely write later telling y'all any details! For now I just have to wait on little Daniel to wake up (or go to sleep first and THEN wake up) so we can drive up and meet Scott at the place. Daniel slept such a LONG time this morning after waking up at 6 for a feeding! He slept until 9 which totally messed up much of a chance for a good nap BEFORE the appointment. I keep thinking he's asleep, but no, he just let out a sleepy little noise, so that must mean he is just on the verge of sleeping. I peeked in on him awhile ago because I was going to get him up if he was up and playing in his crib, but he was just lying on his side, playing with his giraffe. :o) So cute!

So I had a dream last night that the baby was going to be a girl, but I'm not taking any stake on that because I think I was just excited to decorate another baby's room. :o) I was decorating away and getting very excited about everything! I think we have decided that if it's a girl we'll decorate our now office/scrapbook room and give her that room, finding another place for all of those things, but if it's a boy I think we'll just have him share a room with Daniel. That would be nice since we'd be able to keep our other room the same, and I'd definitely still change things around and decorate a bit differently in Daniel's room, but it would also be very exciting to get to do some girl things! :o) Lol. I don't know... I definitely have mixed feelings about it all. I sort of want baby to be a boy because then Daniel would have a brother very close in age to play with and get into trouble with (oh boy!), so I don't know! I guess we'll see what happens! ;o)

SO excited that it is the beginning of the weekend today!!!! I just love Saturdays having Scott at home with us all day! Not sure what we're doing, other than odds and ends around the house. For one, Scott has GOT to get the cabinet latches on in the kitchen because Daniel is LOVING opening and shutting all the cabinets lately. He hasn't quite gotten the point of opening them ALL the way to be able to see and get things out of the cabinet, but I know it'll be soon enough! I have one double cabinet that we'll leave the way it is because he can get in there and play to his heart's content with all the tupperware, strainers, etc. :o) Oh, he DID find the drawer with paper goods the other day! I heard something different and headed into the kitchen to find him sitting down with the drawer all the way open, a bag of plastic cups in his hand as he banged it again and again on the floor! Boy, did he ever LOVE that! :o) I went through everything and threw away all the plastic bags JUST in case he figured out how to open them up, and then he spent awhile playing with all the goodies in there. :o) Hopefully none of our guests will mind some drooled on cups, plates, or silverware too much. Lol.

Anyway, I also need to go shopping tomorrow for more produce to cook, puree, and freeze for Daniel. Goodness he has been eating up a STORM lately! He eats so much that even though I just fixed up a bunch of stuff a few weeks ago, he only has a few sweet potatoes, pears, and apples left, and then quite a lot of carrots, which have lasted FOREVER! ;o) So, I made a list and he will have QUITE the feast pretty soon once I get all these yummy foods made! :o)

We get to go see my sister, Lelia, at Starbucks today after the ultrasound. I'm excited to get to go in and get a coffee and see her again! She has been working there for a month or two, I think, and she is loving it! :o) I'm so glad. I had gone in awhile back to see her, but have yet to bring Daniel in. I guess she wants to show him off to everyone there, so I'll have to make sure he looks his best for the others. ;o) Lol. Nothing like showing off my little boy to people. Especially when he's wearing his "Little Stinker" shirt with the skunk on it. ;o) I love that shirt! Haha!

Okay, so I'm totally rambling now, so I should probably go. Little boy is asleep... now we'll just see if he'll wake up before 11 or I might have to wake him which is NEVER fun! :o(

Dinners, Cleaning, and the Weekend!!!

Goodness, it's been a busy week so far! :o) But, lots of fun, that's for sure! Since I really haven't been so good at keeping y'all informed of my days, I"ll go ahead and recap this week at least! :o)

Monday I did my normal stay-at-home mom duties and played with Daniel lots in between his naps before we headed over to my friend, Kacey's, to work on Valentine cards from her little boy and Daniel. :o) I wasn't able to get them all completed over there, but Daniel helped me with some fingerpainting and I need to sit down and finish them now! But, it was a lot of fun hanging out and talking! Scott joined us after his work and we all had some yummy pasta, chicken, and brocolli for dinner while trying to get our boys to be a bit happier. (They were just not in the best moods... probably doesn't help when one isn't... it makes the other one sad too.) After that we headed over to small group, which was awesome as usual! Daniel was acting so weird as he has been all week. He just sat on Scott's lap for awhile before getting down and playing, which he hardly ever does! But, then he played and entertained everyone while we read the first half of Phil. 4 and discussed it. It was a great discussion and we were also able to talk about what we want to do after we finish the book of Phil. Oh! We are had yummy banana cupcakes and amazing 7-layer type bars! :o) I have to say that everyone makes the bestest desserts for our small group! ;o) We had to leave a bit early because Daniel started to get super grumpy because he was so tired. Plus, I forgot his bottle so he wasn't able to get all filled up and happy! :o( Poor little guy!

Tuesday we hung out at home and I stayed in my PJs all day, which was awesome! ;o) Scott got home shortly after 4 because he was able to get off early after going in at 6 and working through lunch. We went over to his parents that evening for dinner, which was delicious! :o) Daniel was a little more grumpy than normal at the beginning but then started playing and got better! He loves playing with his uncles, that's for sure! ;o)

Wednesday I think I just stayed home... I can't really remember. We didn't do too much... just made steak and rice for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing day at home. :o) The three of us enjoyed spending the evening together as a family, which was also nice with our super busy evenings this week! :o) We watched American Idol after Daniel went down to bed, which was fun!

Thursday I went grocery shopping and cleaned up the house to get ready for Hannah and Phil to come over that evening! :o) I made White Chicken Chili for dinner which was AMAZING (I really don't know why I don't make it more often - it's easy and delicious!), they brought rolls and salad, and Scott made delicious homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert! ;o) We ate dinner and then talked and played "Family Business" which was fun. Then we rested and watched The Office with them before they headed home. After they left, Scott and I watched Blue Bloods and got to bed by 10!

Today I haven't done all that much, yet. I made a pasta salad this morning and cleaned up most of the kitchen while I made Daniel his lunch. Daniel has been eating SO much today and has been very grumpy and tired, so maybe that means another growth spurt! Goodness gracious! ;o) He is down for nap number 3 already, but is definitely NOT sleeping right now! All I hear is him 'talking' and hitting one of the toys on his crib! Silly boy! ;o) I am SO happy that he is finally napping better, though! Now that he plays in his crib it keeps him very entertained so he doesn't cry more than a minute or two when we put him down usually, unless he is very overtired. It's SO nice! Now, if he just did that in his pack-n-play at other people's houses... that would be nice! ;o) Tonight we have a family from church coming over for dinner which will be lots of fun! :o) It's been so nice having people over to our house... I love having the ability and place to have people over! It's so much fun!

Tomorrow I'm excited to spend time with Scott and Daniel doing whatever we end up doing (maybe going on a long walk would be fun if it's anywhere as nice as these past few days have been!). Tomorrow night my dad is coming over to hang out with Scott and Daniel while I go to my sister, Amanda's, for a Stampin' Up party that we are throwing for a bunch of our friends! We are making greeting cards, which I'm super excited to see and make! :o)

Well, that's what has been happening around here! The quick rundown. Now that Daniel is down for his nap I should probably do something! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

So much love!

I love my little Daniel SO much! Yesterday was a very cuddly day with him, which doesn't happen all to often anymore. :o( He is usually so independent that he will just play, play, play, until he gets tired and then he usually doesn't even want me to hold him... nope, he just wants to be put down in his crib with his bear where he 'talks' and might play a little more, settling himself down to sleep. But, not yesterday! After playing for just a few minutes throughout the day, he would come up to where I was sitting or doing something and pull himself up and just give me that smile of his that makes me smile back and realize again how much I love this little boy, and so I would lift him up and he'd just sit on my lap for awhile, playing with his toys. I sat down with him while we played for awhile, and every once in awhile he'd crawl over to another toy, grab it, and then bring it back to me, crawling into my lap to sit. Aaahh, I love holding that little guy! I'd occasionally give him kisses all over his head and neck and he would just look around at me and laugh with his big smile again, probably because it tickled. :o) I don't care what people say - being a mom is the best thing in the whole wide world! It makes me so happy to think that in just seven to seven and a half months I'll have another little one to love on. It's so cool to think that our new baby is going to be the same in some ways as Daniel and then totally different in others! That's so exciting! :o) I am so blessed! Every day I just thank God for my boys and my little baby in my tummy! :o) Even though when I was a new mom I couldn't imagine ever having more love to spread between more kids because I was so filled with love for my little family then, God has definitely given me more because my love for Baby is growing more and more, just like it does for little Daniel!

Anyway, just wanted to share... I have a lot to do today, so I should probably go for now. :o)

9 month old Daniel

Dear Daniel,

Happy 9 months old and 1 day to the bestest little boy I've ever seen! :o) Mommy was just thinking the other day how much you have grown up this month, especially... I can't believe that you will be a whole year old in just 3 months! Goodness gracious, this year has flown by! It is cool thinking that as you turned 9 months yesterday, that marked the day of us having you with us the same amount of time that you were inside Mommy... That's really cool! It's also weird thinking like that because basically that means that you have been 'with' us and we have loved you for a year and a half now! Crazy! :o) We love you SOOOO much and are already looking forward to watching you grow and turn into an awesome little boy and man someday... but, don't think you have to rush that... taking your time is just fine by us! :o)

I have to say that this has been a month of big things for you, but the biggest news ever was what we found out just two weeks ago... that you are going to be a big brother in approximately 7 1/2 months! You were the very first person I told the news to, and although you don't exactly understand what it means right now, you seemed excited and I know you will LOVE being a big brother to a little brother or sister... You will be almost a year a half by then, which is definitely young, but we are excited for you two to be able to grow up together and hopefully you'll be the bestest of friends!

Other big firsts this month were crawling for the first time (yay!), pulling yourself up to your knees and feet, clapping, and playing peek-a-boo by yourself without us having to move something in front of your face! So many new things... it was a very exciting month for us seeing all your new accomplishments! :o) You are LOVING being able to crawl! Oh, my goodness! I hardly know what you did before... Now you will play for an hour and a half straight crawling from one toy to the next and dragging toys EVERYWHERE! Then, you will explore all over the house... going to the front room to play with some of Mommy's scrapbook stuff, heading into the kitchen to see if I left any food out, pulling yourself up to look out the back sliding door (you LOVE looking out over the backyard... I think you wish it was warm enough to play out there), going into your room to look at your books, and so much more! You love it! :o) Mommy is kept very busy making sure you are not getting into anything you shouldn't, but I don't mind because you are such a good little boy and once I say "No" you understand what I'm saying and usually always turn away and find something else to play with!

We love you SO much!

Love,
Mommy

Cravings...

Sooo, I really want a hamburger right about NOW! :o) Goodness! I am hungry and should probably eat lunch although I snacked at Moms' Group almost the entire morning... But, we really don't have much to eat so I need to decide what I should do. :o( I need to make some more food, that's for sure! Probably should be making dinner plans right now, actually. Oh, well. I have a lot to do, but I am oh so tired right now and allowing myself to rest while Daniel is napping! Maybe once I finish this I'll go and make myself a turkey sandwich which is all that we really have to eat in the fridge... Otherwise I know I'm going to go out and get a burger which is probably not the best idea as I know I need to eat somewhat healthier than that! Not giving in to my random cravings has been so hard! I didn't have many instances with Daniel's pregnancy when I really wanted one food over another, but already I have wanted tacos one night and burgers like two or three different times now! I did give in once with the burger craving and went and got one, but I know that that can not happen each time of boy, will I ever put on the pounds! ;o) I think I liked not having cravings much more... that's for sure! Lol.

I have been feeling pretty good lately overall. I have still been tired, but I don't seem as tired as I was a few weeks ago. I was super nauseous all weekend, though, which wasn't too much fun, but so far today I've felt better. Probably because I really did eat a lot this morning! :o( Oh, well. If baby needs it I gotta eat, right?! I haven't had tons of morning sickness, but have had just a little bit... I am praying that all of that goes away by the end of the 1st tri. though so I have a good 2nd tri., unlike the first pregnancy! Hopefully so!

Daniel has been doing great! :o) It has been so much fun watching him crawl everywhere and find new and exciting things! Today while we were at the group at church I had him in the sanctuary with all of us for awhile and he was so funny when I put him down to crawl. He crawled to the center aisle and looked all the way up to the front of the church and decided that he needed to go ALL the way over there! So, he crawled and crawled and crawled until he got to the front and then he crawled between and underneath the chairs. It was like a gigantic, fun maze for him! :o) Lol. A few days ago at our house he realized that the kitchen is an amazing place to explore, so he headed straight for there! I need to put some safety locks on some of our cabinets before he starts opening those, AND it's such a new idea realizing that I'll probably need to vacuum or sweep at least the hard floors at least every other day otherwise he is finding a whole bunch of little things that he wants to eat! :o( But, all of this to say that I have still enjoyed every minute of his exploring! He is so cute and the good thing is we have a pretty open floor-plan so I can see him everywhere from the living room except for when he goes all the way into the kitchen... that's when I went in and played with him on the floor. :o) So much fun!

Well, I should probably go eat... Not sure how much longer he will nap, and seeing as how he hasn't really taken a good nap in the afternoon for days now, I should probably take advantage of this nap! :o) Hope everyone is doing awesome!

Super Exciting News!

So basically i just can't hide the news anymore!!! I am PREGNANT!!!! :o) We just found out the news this past Monday! It is starting to seem more real now that I definitely feel pregnant, but the first few days I could hardly believe I was actually going through this all over again! Ever since the beginning of Dec. I have been really wanting to get pregnant again, so when I started feeling very tired and then more hungry than normal last week, I began thinking that I might just be as that is how things started with Daniel's pregnancy. I took the test Monday afternoon and was SO excited when I saw "pregnant" go across the little screen! When Scott got home Daniel and I went and got the pregnancy test and brought it in to show him and he was thrilled as well! It's so crazy thinking that I have a little baby inside of me again! I have missed this feeling so much since having Daniel... it really is the most amazing miracle ever!

I have been feeling pretty good overall. Had a little morning sickness today, but I think more than anything that was because I had to wake up with Daniel at 3 and then 6:45 without eating both times... I need to remember to eat some crackers or something when I wake up even if it's just for a little bit! Goodness, so many things to remember! Other than that, I have been somewhat nauseous, really tired, and eating up a storm! :o)

I went in to my midwife for my first appointment on Wednesday to see how things were going and see if they happened to know how far along I was. We aren't exactly sure, so I have an ultrasound scheduled for three weeks from now to check for sure. They are thinking that I am between 4 and 6 weeks along right now, though, so looks like it will be a September baby! :o) I LOVE the fall, so that is super cool, but I have to say that I'm not looking that forward to being pregnant through the hot summer days... :o( I got hot enough in April during the last few weeks being pregnant with Daniel and boy, that wasn't even hot yet! But, it's okay... I know it will all be worth it when I get to hold our little boy or girl for the first time! :o)

Everyone keeps asking if I want a boy or a girl and it's so hard to decide, so I guess I'll take whatever we get! :o) I absolutely love having a baby boy right now, and I know that since they will be so close in age it would be cool if it was another boy, but then, I want to have a girl so badly, also, so I am definitely good with either one! :o)

Anyway, I just wanted to share our happy, exciting news about our new little Slade addition coming in September! I will try to write again soon!